Universal Congress Of Music Group

Stage-diving and slam-dancing to songs by jazz innovator Ornette Coleman? That's what the Los Angeles quartet Universal Congress Of encountered at its recent date in Muskegon, Mich. "We played a concert there for this all-ages crowd that was pretty much skinheads," said guitarist Joe Baiza over lunch in a Manhattan coffee shop during the East Coast leg of the group's tour. "It was Muskegon punk-rock youth and we thought, 'Man, how are we gonna go over with these kids?

Stage-diving and slam-dancing to songs by jazz innovator Ornette Coleman? That's what the Los Angeles quartet Universal Congress Of encountered at its recent date in Muskegon, Mich. "We played a concert there for this all-ages crowd that was pretty much skinheads," said guitarist Joe Baiza over lunch in a Manhattan coffee shop during the East Coast leg of the group's tour. "It was Muskegon punk-rock youth and we thought, 'Man, how are we gonna go over with these kids?